ANNAPOLIS, Md. — It's been nearly three weeks since online sports betting officially went into action in Maryland.
On Monday we learned just how successful the operation was in its first nine days.
Between November 21 and November 30, players placed mobile bets worth a total of $186,084,496.
Of that amount, $63,835,319 came from promotional play offered by various sportsbooks. Maryland’s sports wagering regulations do not limit the amount of a sportsbook’s promotional play in its first full fiscal year of operation. However afterwards, it cannot exceed 20 percent of a sportsbook's taxable win from the prior year.
“We expect mobile sportsbook operators to continue to offer a lot of promotional wagers in the coming months as they venture into a new market and work to attract customers,” said Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director John Martin. “There was tremendous pent up demand, and a lot of people are utilizing promotional offers from multiple operators simultaneously. But as many of the operators have acknowledged, this level of promotional play is not sustainable, and based on our regulations, it will be curtailed over time.”
As part of an agreement with the state, each sports wagering licensee contributes 15 percent of its taxable win to Maryland education programs.
With that, the state collected $4,262 during the first nine days that online sports betting was in effect.
RELATED: Maryland's road to legalized online sports betting
Maryland’s sports wagering market launched in December 2021 with the opening of five retail sportsbooks. Four retail locations and seven mobile sportsbooks have launched in 2022, and additional retail locations and mobile sportsbooks are expected to launch in the near future.
